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Temporal Prime Directive
The Temporal Prime Directive was a fundamental Starfleet principle. All Starfleet personnel were strictly forbidden from directly interfering with historical events and were required to maintain the timeline and prevent history from being altered. the directive also restricted people from revealing too much about the future so as not to cause paradoxes or alter the timeline. Lieutenant Ducane told Kathryn Janeway, "Remember the Temporal Prime Directive: discuss your experiences with no one," implying she used wording consistent with the Temporal Prime Directive in the 29th century (at least in that timeline). The Temporal Prime Directive was directly related to the Prime Directive. History Dr. Leonard McCoy was transported from 2267 to 1930 by the Guardian of Forever. During his time there, he prevented Edith Keeler from being killed in a traffic accident, causing a change in the timeline that resulted in the Federation and Starfleet ceasing to exist (or, at least, as known by history). Upon learning of this from the Guardian, James T. Kirk and Spock followed McCoy to 1930, where Kirk acted to preserve the timeline by allowing Keeler to die, even though he had become romantically involved with her. His actions restored the timeline, which culminated in the birth of the Federation and Starfleet. ( ) The Temporal Prime Directive was mentioned by Captain Jean-Luc Picard in 2368. Picard postulated that the existence of such a directive might be what was preventing a traveler from the future from aiding him to avert the destruction of Penthara IV. Picard was unaware of any formal Starfleet equivalent to a Temporal Prime Directive at this date. ( ) Captain Kathryn Janeway was aware of the directive's existence in 2371. ( ) This was long before the temporal incursion by Captain Braxton in the timeship Aeon in 2373, indicating that the Temporal Prime Directive was not exclusively a 29th century regulation. ( ) Julian Bashir once referred to the "temporal displacement policy," a principle taught at Starfleet Academy, in the year 2024, when he traveled back in time to that year from 2371. ( ) Starfleet Regulation 157, Section 3, Paragraph 18 also related directly to time travel. ( ) The events of the Temporal Cold War indicate that the regulation had been rescinded, at least temporarily, by the 31st century. However, the Federation faction in the Temporal Cold War was dedicated primarily to keeping the timeline intact and preventing the other factions from interfering with it, which would be completely in keeping with the Temporal Prime Directive's intent. On a few occasions a temporal agent, Crewman , had to tell the crew of some things about the future. ( , et al.) Violations Kirk and his crew have a long list of temporal violations seventeen in total. These include: the events of , , , , where they tampered with the Guardian of Forever which is also a Prime Directive violation, , , and with Temporal Investigations calling Kirk a menace. ( ) This directive was violated at least twice by crew members from alternate futures. First, Commander Chakotay and Ensign Harry Kim from 2390 altered the past by preventing ''Voyager from crashing on a class L planet and killing all aboard.'' ( ) Later, an Admiral Kathryn Janeway from the year 2404 went back in time and successfully assisted ''Voyager in returning some sixteen years earlier than it had in her timeline.'' Additionally, the Janeway of the 24th century violated the directive by accepting the aid of her future self. Her future self took the following attitude regarding the Directive – "It's less of a headache if you just ignore it." Her present self tried to avoid getting knowledge of the future, but after learning that it wasn't so good for several of her close crewmembers, she allowed her future self to tell her about it. Thanks to Admiral Janeway's efforts, Voyager returned home a full sixteen years early (and dealt a crippling blow to the Borg Collective in the process), but the admiral's efforts were a serious breach of the directive. ( ) While the directive was not officially identified in 2370, the senior staff of the did ponder whether Captain Jean-Luc Picard had changed history after his jumps back and forth through time by telling them about the future that he had witnessed, but it was reasoned that his actions would not affect history as he had already changed the future by eliminating the anti-time eruption that had featured in the timelines he witnessed. ( ) The crew of Deep Space 9 have three violations: ( ) where Quark accidentally alters the Roswell Incident, the events of ( ) where they accidentally murder Gabriel Bell, and ( ) where they accidentally get sent back to ( ) but the last one did not count since Arne Darvin was the one who violated the temporal prime directive. Appendices References * ** * ** * ** ** ** ** ** , when Captain Braxton cites it as his reason for refusing Janeway's request to return Voyager to 24th century Earth. The implication is that the Directive is fully developed and implemented sometime after the 24th century but before the 29th century. However, subsequent mentions of the Directive – most notably in – imply that the Directive is already part of Starfleet policy during the 24th century.}} Related topic * Temporal displacement policy Apocrypha The directive was mentioned a few times in Star Trek Online. The mission "Everything Old is New" has you visit Drozana Station to stop the infestation by the Devidians. Franklin Drake of Section 31 tells you to don't worry about the trip, but one of your crew members will tell you to keep the Directive in mind. However, this is tossed out when you are forced to help Dr. McCoy in saving crewmembers there. It's fully enforced in the next mission "Night of the Comet", though Drake tells you again that he'll cover things up. It's invoked a third and currently final time with "Past Imperfect" as you're given permission to use the Guardian of Forever to travel back and rescue Miral Paris, even making sure that technology from the 25th century is destroyed. Voyager s violations of the Temporal Prime Directive are discussed in the novel Watching the Clock, which also cites Janeway allowing The Doctor to retain the use of the mobile emitter despite it originating from the twenty-ninth century, Janeway defending the decision by arguing that she wasn't prepared to deliberately handicap her chief medical officer in the name of an abstract rule. Although the Department of Temporal Investigations attempts to charge Janeway, they are advised to leave the issue alone by a representative of their department's future, who informs them that Admiral Janeway's actions actually preserved history rather than changing it. (This is suggested to be due to her role in bringing Voyager home "early" contributing to the final destruction of the Borg in Star Trek: Destiny.) In the novel A Pocket Full of Lies, Chakotay notes that he completed a classified incident report about the events of for the benefit of the DTI and attended a brief meeting about it when Voyager returned to Earth. Chakotay only reveals the full details of the crisis to the rest of the senior staff when he learned that an alternate version of Kathryn Janeway existed in this timeline due to those events, with Admiral Janeway granting a temporary suspension of the Temporal Prime Directive during the subsequent briefing with the understanding that it would not be recorded and all officers present would not discuss the matter with anyone outside the room. External link * de:Oberste Temporale Direktive Category:Legal documents Category:Time travel